Shoe sole conditioning machine



March 20, 1951 J. H. KELLY E'TAL SHOE sou: CONDITIONING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20; 1948 INVENTOR.

0 M u A Mi HH V Mm Y B V E N m w n m f J. H. KELLY ETAL SHOE SOLE CONDITIONING MACHINE Margh 20, 1951 Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 20, 1948 INVENTOR. Jim/v H. KELLY A BY HARM 1/, T541.

76 4;? ArroR/vsy Patented Mar. 20, 1951 John H.'K el1'y'and Harry H. Teal.- Pittsburgh, Pa; said Teal assignor to-saidKeily Application July-20,1948, Serial No."3 9 ,65.4"

12 "Claims.

This invention relates. generally-to the art of.

conditioning the surface'sof shoe'soles madeof leather or resinous soling material-preparatory to.

theapplication of an adhesive for attaching the. same to foot gear and more particularly to the apparatus for automatically conditioning shoe-sole surfaces. This invention may advantageously. be employed. in the steps'ofshoe manufacture as well as shoe and-boot repairingand with slight modificationsmay. be=emp1oyed for. use in kindred arts wherein the surfaces-of the material must be. prepared with a'treated nap and all of the original surface eradicated for receiving a.

cementitious substanceforattachingthe same toanother member that might have asimilarly prepared'surface;

In conditioning. the surface of leather and I resinous soling; material preparatory. to attaching it to a boot or shoe-it is desirable-to have a -uniform nap on the. surface of the .-material and to completelyeradicate the original surface in the zone of theconditioning-band that surrounds the perimeter of the sole. Many methods and apparatus have been tried toobtain such asurface and the only method that has been proven successful for preparing leather solesis bytheuse of the cutter as disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent.

2,429,822, issued October 28; 19:17 m a machine such as disclosed in Letters Patent-2,287,999, is-

sued June 30,1942. However, it is necessary tomanually control the movement of the leather through the machinedisclosed in the later patent and it is not suited for producing a uniform nap on a sole of resinous material.

The principal object of thisxinvention-isthe provision of method andapparatus for automaticallyconditioning a leather and resinous.

shoe sole surface.

Another object isthe" provision ofapparatus for controlling the Width and extent of a uni.- form' conditioning surface band around the'perimeter-of a shoe sole.

Another object is the provision of apparatus determining the. iron or" thickness of a con-'- dioned surface around: the perimeter of. a shoe? sole.

Another object is theprovision'of apparatus? for opening and closing the throat in an auto matic shoe sole surface conditioning machinei:

Another object is the provision of a hard metal guide surface made of a material such as tungsten carbide andso disposed as to offer aresistance to control, with a' resilient pressure roll, the automatic movement of the shoe sole through a surface conditionin'g'ma'chme.

2. Other obj ects T andladvantages' appear herein'-' after. iiithe following description and claims.

The accompanyingdrawings show, for the'pur-" pose of'exemplifi'cation, without limiting the in-Q vention. or the claimsthereto, certain practical embodiments of the invention whereinf Fig. 1" is a. plan'view of the'automatic shoe sole-Q conditioning machine comprising this inven'tio'nj Fig; 2 isa side elevation of the machine'shown:

iii-Fig.1. with.the. cover, removedifor the purpose" of show'ihg the cutter" and the pressure roll;

Figi 3- is a vertical sectionof themachinelasi' shown on the line 3.'3ofFi'g. l; v p

Fig, 4'isa detal'ldwiew of parts sh'OWhifI'Fig; 3 and with' parts of the Iriachin'e"be'iflg'.v Brokenaway to illustrate'thegap' openlhgmech'anismf Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofthecfonicallv shaped" pressure roll! that maybe. employed. on this m'achine'in place of the'cyliiidrical 'rolfil lustrated in Figs. 1 to'3', inclusive;

Fig. 6' is a perspectiveview of"thesho'e sol'e' guide block; and

Fig. 'Tis'a' view similarto. Fig. dsh'o'wingl a" modifiedform ofa shoe sole guide block.

Referring to the figures; of tlie di 'awi'ng; the" shoe sole conditioning machine is mounted" on the base iwhich may befassembled on 'a'standard that contains a 'motor' anda blower unit'together with the. conduit" system. for cooling the cutter mechanism" 'ahdwithdrawihg' the cuttings from thevicinity of the.conditioning.operation; lhe 'motor? employed "to 1 drive the 'm'ach'ihe 'may' be of. the ordinary induction type or it may he.

variable in speed. The motor is 'arrangedto drive" th'esh'a'ft z'througha V'-be1t iifengaging on the pulley, l'atithe. rear end of theshaft 2. The shaft 2 extends through ahdis'journaled'in the speed ii reducing mechanism 5' offany suitable design." The forward "end of the. shaft 2 extends through ananti-friction bearing. 6 and having'its front end extending into the cutting chamber'l 'ofthe' table member 8. Theendfof'the shaft ZIisfar ranged" to receive the cutter" l0 which. is held.

ing wa's'her"9""an'd"the'spacer l2; As'vieWed ini Fig. 2 the cutter rotate's" in a" clockwise direction; and is'preferably of 'the design disclosed in Patent" 2,429,822 with the interruptingteeth following" alefthand helix; the cutter'being: made from.

a single blank of anrdesirable Width in ac cordancewith the width of' the surfaceto' 'be" The" cutter is formedxso' that it maybe 'turned end-for=endon" theshaft 2"'and"is"provided with *dupliatecut conditioned on the shoe sole.

tingprofi'les" to increase the life of the" cutter;

3 This cutter is preferably made with tungsten carbide tips or other suitable hard metal to give it lasting qualities and relative long life in service.

It will be noted that the teeth of the cutter extend slightly above the surface It of the table 8 when the plate It, that covers the face of the cutter chamber on the table casing, is removed. As shown in Fig. 2 a series of holes or openings l are found adjacent the curved edge of the cutter chamber and also around the shaft 2. The purpose of these holes is to permit the blower to exhaust air through the cylindrical throat E5 of the cutter chamber for the purpose of removing the cuttings from the vicinity for the cutting operation and also for drawing air in around the cutter itself to keep the cutter and the antifrictional bearing cool during the operation of the machine as well as to remove the cuttings. It has been found that this method of cooling the bearing and the cutter materially increases the lifeof both members, particularly when they are required to function on a twenty-four hourly schedule in conditioning the surface of shoe sole material.

The table surface 13 is provided with slots ll disposed in the same vertical plane as the axis of the shaft 2 for the purpose of receiving the key l8 on the underside of the guide plate 20 shown in Fig. 6. A portion of the undersurface of the guide plate 25 rests on the surface of the table l3 and is permitted to be adjusted fore and aft by means of the clamping pin wrench 2| which may be adjustably tightened and loosened. The threaded portion of the clamping pin wrench 2| passes through the slot 23 of the guide plate 25 and into a mating threaded opening in the table surface l3.

The guide plate 25 is provided with spaced arcuate surfaces 24 and 25 which are preferably tipped with a very hard material such as tungsten carbide. The guide surface 24 is shown to be a round pellet of carbide brazed or otherwise secured on the top of the key 18; whereas the arcuate guide surface 25 is brazed or otherwise secured to the edge of the guide plate 29 in spaced relationwith the guide surface 24 providing a nest 25 betwen these arcuate guide surfaces. Above the guide surface 25 a lip 21 is constructed so that it may overhang the guide surface 25 to prevent light shoe soles from raising as they pass in contact with the guide surfaces 24and 25. It will also be noted in Fig. 6 that a portion of the plate 25' is beveled as indicated at 28. above the guide surface 25 to provide clearance for the pressure roll 35. The construction lines 3! and 32 shown in Fig. 6 illustrate the relative position of the guide surfaces 24 and 25. The line 3| represents the horizontal line disposed at right angles to the axis of the shaft 2. The construction line 32 is in the same horizontal plane as the line 3! and is shown to be at an angle of twenty-five degrees from the line 3!. This angle may be varied. It of course should not be ninety degrees but broad shoe soles may be automatically fed through the machine if the angle between the construction lines 3% and 32 is materially less than twenty-five degrees or inthe order of eight to ten degrees. However, such an angle would be improper for use with a shoe sole having a very narrow toe such as used on ladies shoes. The narrow toe would look itself in the nest 26 and refuse to go through the machine if the angle is too great, or would be ejected forcefully from the machine before completion of the conditioning cycle if the angle is too small. shoe sole material the angle of twenty-five degrees is found to be preferable and functions satisfactorily for many different radii of curvature in the toe of shoe soles.

The speed reducer 5 is provided with the forwardly extending shaft 34 and is arranged to receive the gear 35 which is in mesh with the gear 35 mounted on the shaft 3'! that lies above the shaft 2 and parallel therewith. A frame 38 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 34 and fastened thereto by the clamping washer and screw as indicated at 45. The frame 38 carries the bearings 4! for the shaft 3'! and also the enclosed housing 42 that covers the gears 35 and 35. The other end of the frame 33 extends to the right as indicated at 43 and is provided with the socket i t for receiving the upper end of the spring 45 that is held in compression between the frame end 43 and the spring tension adjusting mechanism 46 supported on the base.

The speed reducer 5 is arranged to provide a speed of approximately seventy to one between the shafts 2 and 31 whether the shaft 2 is operating at the speed of two thousand or five thousand R. P. M. or any selected speeds that is desired to be employed which may be obtained by the variable speed motor or the system of pulleys such as the pulley i in rotating the shaft 2.

The outer end of the shaft 31 is arranged to receive the pressure roll 30 and hold the same in place by means of the knurled nut 41 tightend on the threaded end of the shaft 31. As previously stated, the pressure roll shown in Figs.

'1 to 3, inclusive, is cylindrical and is made of a resilient material such as a plastic or rubber and is frequently referred to as an elastomer material. It is preferable that this material be resilient and mounted on a steel core. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings that the inner edge of the pressure roll 30 lies just in front of the arcuate guide surface 24 and overlaps the same. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the pressure roll lies above the cutter I0 and is prevented from engaging therewith by means of the adjustable stop pin 48. When a shoe sole is inserted in the gap 50 between the pressure roll 30 and the cutter 10 its thickness or iron measurement will force the pressure roll upwardly rocking the frame 38 about the shaft 34 and causing the other end of the frame 43 to further compress the spring 45. However, the gap 55 may be limited in the degree of its opening by means of the micromatic iron selector stop as illustrated at 5! which comprises the post 52 set within the swiveling block 53 mounted to swivel on the base I by means of the pivot pin 54. The top of the post is of hardened steel and is arranged to engage the fine threaded screw member 55 that is provided with a notched head 55, the notches of which are engaged by the spring finger 51 attached to the housing 52. By rotating the screw 55, which may be calibrated directly in irons with reference to the spring finger 51, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one may vary the gap 5i and thereby limit the degree of opening in the gap 50 between the pressure roll 35 and the cutter It. This is particularly advantageous for use in reducing the forepart of a shoe sole at the same time the surface is being conditioned. It is also advantageous for use in selecting the proper iron of the shoe sole to determine the correct pressure applied through the pressure roll at the gap 55. As shown in Fig. 3 the swiveling block 53 is provided with a roller 58 on the However, for leather and resinous rearface thereof that engages the vertically disposed stationary backup bearing block 60; The vertically disposed rod -6-I'- slid'esthrough anopening in the base I and is connected to afoot treadle that is spring biased to raise the rod to the position shownon the drawing. The rod it has the-camblock 62 secured thereto and a fortyfivedegree angle cam surface fis overliesthe'roller 58'. draw the rod 84 downwardly the cam surface 63 engages the roller 58 causing the block 53 to swing on the pivot 54 moving the pin 52 from withunder the adjustable iron stop screw 55- and permitting the latter to lower so that theframe 38 may pivot on the shaft 34' and raise the pressure roll materiall above the cutter id. This action permits the operator to open the gap 56 between the pressure roll andthe cutter forthe purpose of inserting and removing the sole from the throat without improperly scoring the solo. The block 53 may be spring biased to swing back into positionwhen the foot tread-1e is released to permit the rod 65 to raise. In order to eX- pedite the pivoting of the frame 38 in a clockwise direction the rod 6t is permitted to extend up through the outer end 43 of the frame 38 and a stop nut 6t and a lock nut as are adjustably positioned. on the rod for the purpose of engaging the upper surface of the frame, causing it to lower when the foot treadle is depressed. When the foottreadl'e is released and the block 53 swings back into the normal position as shown the post E: is again in position to properly gauge the gap 5| for controlling the gap 52 between the pressure roll and the cutter. Although, as shown on the drawings, the distances between thegaps 50 and 5! to the axis of the shaft 3% are equal it is obvious that one may increase the distance from the gap. 5'! and the shaft 3 5 and thereb increase the efiectiveness of this. control of the micro thread on the adjusting screw 55.

In the manufacture of shoes it is frequently desirable to have a forepart reduction on the shoe soles, which reduction is in the nature of a beveled edge around the sole from the inner ball around the. toe to the outer ball of the shoe, which reduction is ordinarily less than the shank reduction. It is an. important object of this invention to provide a. machine that will eliminate the step of the forep'art reduction on a. sole and at the same time provide a conditioned surface on the shank reduction. This is accomplished by first reducin the shank to the proper degree as an independent operation and then inserting the shank end of the sole into the gap 59, releasing the treadle to cause the pressure roll to engage the tread surface of the sole and permit the ma.- chine to automatically feed it therethrough. The machine will then condition the previously reduced shank and when the sole reaches the ball line, which has not been reduced, the cutter will not only produce the forepart reduction on the sole but also will condition the surface thereof; This reduction and conditioned. surface continues around the toe of the sole to the other ball line and then continues along the shank tothe end of the sole and merely conditions the previously reduced shank surface. Thus, this machine entirely eliminates the operation of forepart' reduction in the preparation of shoe soles.

In order to perform the forepart reduction in a shoe sole it is necessary to provide a pressure roll having a conical shape such as the frusto conical roll disclosed in Fig. 5 wherein the roll When the foot treadl'eis depressed to 66 is of the same character as the pressure rollter, the ends ofwhich are permitted tolie the semi-cylindrical cross groove- 68-. Thus; when the pressure roll at is placed in the machine with the small end of the'frusto conical surface toward the front of the machine, the cutter will produce a forepart reduction onthe sole or a reductioncompletely around the sole-if the shank portion has not been previously reduced and at the same time condition the surfaces; The reasonfor previously reducing the shank is that the reduction in the shank is ordinarily greater than the reduction of the forepart'.

As shown in the drawings the surface of the pressure roll is substantially co-extensi've to that of the cutter. However, it is preferablein some instances to mount the pressure roll on its shaft sothat it extends outwardly at least one or more dimensons of the pitch of the cutter teeth. Thispermits the conditioned surface to be made to the edge of the sole. By adjusting the relative positions of the pressure roll and the cutter the conditioned surface may bespaced fromthe edge of the sole or by adjusting the guide block 20 the width of the conditioned surfacemay be changed. When a very wide conditioned surface or bandis required a second cuttersection may be: added in place of the spacer 2 as shown in Fi'g. 3.

When the shank portion of a sole is inserted in the gap and the. pressure roll is permitted to force it into engagement with the cutter the eut-- ting action of the teeth forces the sole to the left owing to the fact that the teeth are of the left hand helix; A lateral thrust is givento'the sole causing it to bear against the guide surfaces 2-4 and 25'. The pressure roll acts as a hold back on the sole and permits the teeth of the cutter to properly condition thesurf-ace and raise a nap whether it be a leather" sole or a resinous mate'- rial. The edge of the sole engaging the guide block surfaces 2 l'and125i, together with the lateral thrust created by the cutter, causes these guide block surfaces to function in resisting the movement of the sole in engagement therewith. This resistance to movement, together with the hold back feature of the pressure roll and in conjunction with the proper spacing ofthe guide lock surfacesZt and 25-, permits the sole to move rapidly through the gap around its entire perimeter without the aid of manualcontrol', there-- by automatically conditioning theattaching sur-- face of the sole. Again it has been tried to allow the pressure rollto rotate freely on the shaft. However, if the pressure roll is not given the characteristic to hold back the sole it will travel so fast through the gap 55 that the surface is not properly conditioned. It is therefore obvious that resistance must be applied to three or more points of the sole for the purpose of automatically carrying it through the machine, first by the hold back pressure roll and second by the two resistant guide surfaces 2i and 25. i This discovery has proven to be a very important object of this invention.

In the guide block 10, shown in Fig; 7, the resistant guide surface 25 has been replaced by the ball bearing ii which is mounted inthe semispherical socket 12 within the dimensions of the plate it. The relative position of the sole edge engaging surface on the ball bearing H is the same as that of the resistant guide surface 25. In other words, the construction line 32 is tangent to the resistant guide surface 24 and the surface of the ball bearing H. The ball bearing H has been found to work more satisfactorily in a machine for conditioning a wide track on soles of resinous material. The important feature is to provide a movable guide surface at this point, which movable guide surface could be in the nature of a roller. However, the structure shown is preferable. When producing a wide track conditioned surface around the perimeter of a shoe sole as previously stated it is necessary to employ two cutters in place of one, which condition doubles the lateral thrust on the shoe sole and it is therefore necessary to reduce some of the resistance offered by the guide block by replacing the surface 25 with a movable surface such as the ball bearing ll shown in Fig. 7.

While, for clarity of explanation, certain preferred embodiments of this invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that this invention is capable of many modifications, that changes in the construction and arrangement may be made therein and that certain parts may be employed without conjoint use of other parts and without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. In a shoe sole conditioning machine, the combination of a table surface having an opening, a rotary cutter member capable of producing a lateral thrust in the direction of its rotation and mounted to have a portion of its cutting surface extending through said opening above the surface of said table, a rotary resilient pressure roll member mounted above said table with its axis parallel to the axis of the rotary cutter member and forming a gap therewith for receiving and discharging a shoe sole, means to maintain proportionate speed ratios of said members relative to each other and to maintain the rotation of said members in opposite directions to move the sole through said gap, shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on the table surface and having an outer arcuate sole edge engaging surface, an intermediate point on said sole edge engaging surfaces being disposed in the plane passing through the axis of said members and adjacent said gap, second shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on said table surface and having an outer arcuate sole engaging surface in the same horizontal plane as the first sole edge engaging surface and spaced from the discharge side of said gap, the plane tangent to the sole edge engaging arcuate surfaces of both of said guide means being disposed at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane passing through the axes of said members.

2. In a shoe sole conditioning machine, the combination of a table surface having an opening, a rotary cutter member capable of producing a lateral thrust in the direction of its rotation and mounted to have a portion of its cutting surface extended through said opening above the surface of said table, a conical rotary resilient pressure roll member mounted above said table with its axis parallel to the axis of the rotary cutter member and having a gap therewith for receiving and discharging a shoe sole, means to maintain proportionate speed ratios of said members relative to each other and to maintain the rotation of said members in opposite directions to move the shoe sole through said gap, shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on the table surface and having an outer arcuate sole edge engaging surface, an intermediate point on said guide means being disposed in the plane passing through the axes of said members and adjacent said gap, said shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on said table surface and having an outer arcuate sole engaging surface in the same horizontal plane as the first guide means and spaced from the discharge side of said gap, the plane tangent to the sole edge engaging arcuate surface of both of said guide means being disposed at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane passing through the axes of said members.

3. The structure of claim 2 characterized in that the widths of the cutter and the pressure roll are substantially co-extensive to one another.

4. The structure of claim 3 characterized in that the sole edge engaging surface of the first guide means lies over a portion of the said cutter members.

5. The structure of claim 2 which also includes means to adjust the position of the sole edge engaging surfaces relative to the cutter and pressure roll members.

6. The structure of claim 2 characterized in that both of said shoe sole resistant guide means are fixed relative to each other.

7. The structure of claim 2 which also includes adjustable stop means for limiting said gap between the members.

8. In a shoe sole conditioning machine, the combination of a table surface having an opening, a rotary cutter member capable of producing a lateral thrust in the direction of its rotation and mounted to have a portion of its cutting surface extended through said opening above the surface of said table, a, rotary resilient pressure roll member mounted above said table with its axis parallel to the axis of the rotary cutter member and having a gap therewith for receiving and discharging a shoe sole, means to maintain proportionate speed ratios of said members relative to each other and to maintain the rotation of said members in opposite directions to move the shoe sole through said gap, shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on the table surface and having a pair of spaced arcuate sole edge engaging surfaces forming a nest therebetween, an intermediate point on one of said sole edge engaging surfaces being disposed in the plane passing through the axes of said members and adjacent said gap, and the other sole edge engaging surface lying in the same horizontal plane and spaced from the discharge side of said gap, the plane tangent to the sole edge engaging arcuate surfaces of both of said guide means being disposed at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane passing through the, axes of said members.

9. In a shoe sole conditioning machine, the combination of a table surface having an opening, a rotary cutter member capable of producing a lateral thrust in the direction of its rotation and mounted to have a portion of its cutting surface extended through said opening above the surface of said table, a rotary resilient pressure roll member mounted above said table with its axis parallel to the axis of the rotary cutter member and having a gap therewith for receiving and discharging a shoe sole, means to maintain proportionate speed ratios of said members relative to each other and to maintain the rctation of said members in opposite directions to move the shoe sole through said gap, shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on the table surface and having a pair of spaced arcuate sole edge engaging surfaces forming a nest therebetween, an intermediate point on one of said sole edge engaging surfaces being disposed in the plane passing through the axes of said members and adjacent said gap and the other sole edge engaging surface lying in the same horizontal plane and spaced from the discharge side of said gap, the plane tangent to the sole edge engaging arcuate surfaces of both of said guide means being disposed at an angl of ninety degrees to the plane passing through the axes of said members.

10. In a shoe sole conditioning machine, the combination of a table surface having an opening, a rotary cutter member capable of producing a lateral thrust in the direction of its rotation and mounted to have a portion of its cutting surface extending through said opening above the surface of said table, a rotary resilient pressure roll member mounted above the table with its axes parallel to the axes of the rotary cutter member and forming a gap therewith for receiving and discharging a shoe sole, means for supporting the rotary resilient pressure roll mem-- ber for movement relative to the rotary cutter member to increase the gap therebetween, means to maintain proportionate speed ratios of said members relative to each other and to maintain the rotation of said members in opposite directions to move the sole through said gap, shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on the table surface and having an outer arcuate sole edge engaging surface, an intermediate point on said sole edge engaging surfaces being disposed in the plane passing through the axes of said members and adjacent said gap, second shoe sole resistant guide means mounted on said table surface and having an outer arcuate sole engaging surface in the same horizontal plane as the first sole edge engaging surface and spaced from the discharge side of said gap, the plane tangent to the sole edge engaging arcuate surfaces of both of said guide means being disposed at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane passing through the axes of said members, and adjustable means for regulating the extent of movement of said rotary resilient pressure roll member relative to said rotary cutter member.

11. The structure of claim 10 which also includes means for making said adjustable means ineffective to open the gap between the cutter and the pressure roll members for the insertion and removal of a shoe sole.

12. A guide block for use with the shoe sole conditioning machine consisting of a block member having spaced arcuate sole engaging surfaces lying in a common plane to provide a nest therebetween unoccupied by a sole but bridged by a portion of its arcuate periphery.

JOHN H. KELLY. HARRY H. TEAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,001,768 Campbell May 21, 1935 2,046,147 Card June 30, 1936 2,130,553 Le Gault Sept. 20, 1938 2,287,999 Kelly June 30, 1942 2,435,582 Gulbrandsen Feb. 10, 1948 

